You'll love this -- Retirement Planning!This one is one of the best. From The London Times:A Well-Planned Retirement

Outside England 's Bristol Zoo there is a parking lot for 150 cars and 8 buses. For 25 years, its parking fees were managed by a very pleasant attendant. The fees were for cars, about $1.40, for buses about $7.Then, one day, after 25 solid years of never missing a day of work, he just didn't show up; so the Zoo Management called the City Council and asked it to send them another parking agent.The Council did some research and replied that the parking lot was the Zoo's own responsibility. The Zoo advised the Council that the attendant was a City employee. The City Council responded that the lot attendant had never been on the City payroll.Meanwhile, sitting in his villa somewhere on the coast of Spain (or some such scenario), is a man who'd apparently had a ticket machine installed completely on his own; and then had simply begun to show up every day, commencing to collect and keep the parking fees, estimated at about $560 per day -- for 25 years.Assuming 7 days a week, this amounts to just over $7 million dollars!......And no one even knows his name.

Yeah, complete nonsense. First of all, no-one was paying a quid to park at the bloody Bristol Zoo in the 80's, secondly, if the guy just showed up one day with a ticket machine and a booth, when prior to that there had been no fee for parking, you don't think people would have complained to the zoo? British people will gripe loudly about ANYTHING they can, this would be front-page news, especially in the 80's in Bristol.

It never ceases to amaze me that people get sucked in by silly stories like this.

Football is not a matter of life and death. It's much more important than that. ~ Bill Shankley

peachesenregalia wrote:Yeah, complete nonsense. First of all, no-one was paying a quid to park at the bloody Bristol Zoo in the 80's, secondly, if the guy just showed up one day with a ticket machine and a booth, when prior to that there had been no fee for parking, you don't think people would have complained to the zoo? British people will gripe loudly about ANYTHING they can, this would be front-page news, especially in the 80's in Bristol.

It never ceases to amaze me that people get sucked in by silly stories like this.

People always want to believe they can do something as clever as this in order to make the big bucks. Also, people would be able to find his name easily because if he didn't pay taxes he'd get arrested for evasion. (Or whatever the corresponding infraction is in the UK.)

peachesenregalia wrote:Yeah, complete nonsense. First of all, no-one was paying a quid to park at the bloody Bristol Zoo in the 80's, secondly, if the guy just showed up one day with a ticket machine and a booth, when prior to that there had been no fee for parking, you don't think people would have complained to the zoo? British people will gripe loudly about ANYTHING they can, this would be front-page news, especially in the 80's in Bristol.

It never ceases to amaze me that people get sucked in by silly stories like this.

People always want to believe they can do something as clever as this in order to make the big bucks. Also, people would be able to find his name easily because if he didn't pay taxes he'd get arrested for evasion. (Or whatever the corresponding infraction is in the UK.)

In the UK, it's called 'avoision'.

Football is not a matter of life and death. It's much more important than that. ~ Bill Shankley

peachesenregalia wrote:Yeah, complete nonsense. First of all, no-one was paying a quid to park at the bloody Bristol Zoo in the 80's, secondly, if the guy just showed up one day with a ticket machine and a booth, when prior to that there had been no fee for parking, you don't think people would have complained to the zoo? British people will gripe loudly about ANYTHING they can, this would be front-page news, especially in the 80's in Bristol.

It never ceases to amaze me that people get sucked in by silly stories like this.

The guy in "Catch me if you can" one time put a sign on a bank deposit machine in a Mall that said MACHINE BROKEN, GIVE DEPOSITS TO THE SECURITY GUARD. He stood there quietly with a canvas bag all one day till the stores all closed taking deposits.

He could barely move the bag and it turned out later an local FBI agent helped him get it to his station wagon.

Went to his motel, left all the coins and checks and deposit slips in the bathtub and made off with more than $40,000 in cash.

The guy in "Catch me if you can" one time put a sign on a bank deposit machine in a Mall that said MACHINE BROKEN, GIVE DEPOSITS TO THE SECURITY GUARD. He stood there quietly with a canvas bag all one day till the stores all closed taking deposits.

He could barely move the bag and it turned out later an local FBI agent helped him get it to his station wagon.

Went to his motel, left all the coins and checks and deposit slips in the bathtub and made off with more than $40,000 in cash.

So if presented correctly most anything can be done.

That was also back in the 50's and 60's, though. Most people are a bit more savvy these days. If you've never been to England, people generally don't respond well to change over there, particularly change that will hit them in the pocket.

Football is not a matter of life and death. It's much more important than that. ~ Bill Shankley

Some people may be a bit more savvy, but a good portion of the population are still falling victim to online/text scams. I mean, if some random text/e-mail says I won a new car, and all they need is my SSN and bank acct/routing number it has to be legit right?

SalishHawkFan wrote:My name is Russell Wilson. You intercepted 4 of my passes. Prepare to die.

OkieHawk wrote:Some people may be a bit more savvy, but a good portion of the population are still falling victim to online/text scams. I mean, if some random text/e-mail says I won a new car, and all they need is my SSN and bank acct/routing number it has to be legit right?

*shrug*

seems legit

Football is not a matter of life and death. It's much more important than that. ~ Bill Shankley

OkieHawk wrote:Some people may be a bit more savvy, but a good portion of the population are still falling victim to online/text scams. I mean, if some random text/e-mail says I won a new car, and all they need is my SSN and bank acct/routing number it has to be legit right?

*shrug*

seems legit

What's the worst that can happen...I won't get the car? I'm sending my info pronto.